The Stars Are Upside down
by Robot.In.Disguise
Summary: [[FINAL CHAPTER]] stuff happens.. in the future.. read it and see
1. Just like all the others

**Just like the others**  
  
Soda stared off into the distance, paying no attention to his driving. His date's voice broke into his thoughts. He glanced over at her to make sure she hadn't been asking him a question, then let out a small sigh of relief when he found that she wasn't. He listened to her ramble for a few seconds, but her words bored him. Her very presence bored him. She was just like every other girl he dated. They made the same dumb jokes, told the same dumb stories, dressed the same, wore their hair the same; shoot, they even smelled the same! The only difference was the face and voice, and that was never enough distinction for Soda. They were all the same; all except one. Sandy. She was long gone, though, and Soda had pushed his memories of her to the back of his mind. He hated the helplessness he felt when he thought about her; hated feeling on the verge of tears.  
  
Suddenly he realized the car was quiet and motionless. Reddening he turned to face his date (What was her name? Even now he couldn't remember. Couldn't remember ever knowing, for that matter.) She smiled faintly. "We're at my house." Soda looked at her for a few seconds until what she said registered. He jumped out of the car and ran around to let the girl out. She swung her legs over the car frame and smiled brightly as Soda helped her out. Soda knew she was just playing her role, but he didn't mind because he was just playing his own - and both of them knew it.  
  
They walked up to the front porch and turned to look at each other. The girl looked him over thoughtfully and spoke first.  
  
"You don't plan to call me, do you?"  
  
"No." The answer came out more quickly than Soda intended. He blushed and looked down at his shoes. "I mean...you're real nice and cute and all...it's just that..." He sighed. I am not helping myself out any. He took a deep breath and looked back up at her. He hated being asked direct questions; his brain always answered truthfully before he knew he was doing it. "I had a great night with you and all, it's just that - well, I didn't feel anything."  
  
She just smiled at him. "Sodapop, don't worry about it. I wasn't expecting anything, anyways."  
  
"You're a real nice girl," Soda repeated.  
  
"Sodapop Curtis." She pressed a finger to his lips to silence him. "I said, don't worry about it. I had a nice time with you, too. Thanks for taking me out tonight." She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Soda closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Vanilla. At least she smells different than the others.  
  
They waved goodbye to each other and Soda got into the car to head back home. He found himself driving on instinct as his thoughts drifted back to Sandy.


	2. The Letter

**The Letter**

Four years ago, Sandy told Soda that she was pregnant. She said she had cheated on him, but he still asked her to marry him anyway. The wistful look in her eyes told him she wanted to, but her parents had already arranged for her to live with her grandparents in Florida. She was gone the next day

It was the second worst week of Soda's life, after the death of his parents. His younger brother, Ponyboy, and a good friend, Johnny, disappeared after Johnny killed that Soc kid. Then Johnny and their friend Dallas died. Sandy leaving didn't help his emotional state any. She gave him her grandparents' address scrawled on a piece of paper when she came to say that she was going. Soda didn't think her parents even knew she came to tell him goodbye.

He wrote her several letters just after she left, telling her that he missed her and still wanted to be part of her life and the baby's life, even if it wasn't his baby. He sent her homemade cards for her birthday and tried to guess when the baby was born to send cards. All of it was returned, unopened. The futility he felt was driving him out of his mind. His brothers, Darry and Ponyboy, told him to just let her go. His best friend, Steve, told him to forget her; she's gone. So Soda wrote her again, one final note:

_

* * *

Sandy-___

_I really want to call you, but I know that it's not right. I probably shouldn't tell you, but I dreamed of you last night. Out of every girl I meet, no other can compete, I'd ditch them all for you. I know you don't believe you mean this much to me but I promise that you do. I'm sorry I wasn't right for you. I would have done anything for you. I guess that it wasn't meant to be. I quit pretending you were in love with me. I guess that I'm wrong for falling in love, but you're still the one I'm dreaming of. Your arms in mine, anytime. I wouldn't trade anything. You're still my everything. And if you're ever in __Tulsa__ again, come visit. Me and the boys are always here for you. This is the last of my letters until I see you again. Take care._

_Love,_

_Sodapop__ Curtis.

* * *

_

He wrapped the note around five $20 bills, stuffed them into an envelope, and put them out for the mail. It was the one letter he never had returned to him. But Sandy never wrote back; she never called.

_**(a/n: the letter is a combination of Get Up Kids and Ataris lyrics)**_


	3. No Chocolate Cake?

**No Chocolate cake??**

Soda climbed out of the car. He had been sitting in the car in his driveway thinking about Sandy for the past half-hour. He shook his head lightly. _Glory, I'm turning into Ponyboy, thinking so much and all. _A lot had changed in the past four years. Pony was about to graduate in spring, and he was pretty sure he would be getting at least a partial scholarship to the University of Tulsa for his track record. He had placed first in just about every meet he was in for the past 2 years. Pony had been going steady with Two-Bit's kid sister, Kara. She's three years younger than Pony, and Soda reckoned the only reason Two-Bit wasn't constantly on Pony's case about it was because Two-Bit trusted only Pony to keep her safe, and even then Pony was on thin ice. Anyone else was likely to get their head kicked in for thinking about her. You just don't get on Two-Bit's bad side about his kid sister unless you have a death wish.

Soda and Pony's older brother, Darry, had been promoted to foreman of his own roofing crew, and was finally making enough to only need one job. Only working one job took a lot of stress off him, and soon he and Pony were able to talk to each other without being down each other's throats.

Soda was still pumping gas at the DX with Steve, but lately he had been thinking of applying for manager of the store. He'd been working there for nearly five years; didn't that make him qualified?

Soda quietly slipped into the house. It wasn't all that late, really, only about 11 p.m., but Darry was already home and his bedroom light was off. "Superman must have crashed early," Soda murmured, smiling at his own joke. He went into the kitchen and found a note from Darry on the icebox.

* * *

Sodapop-  
  
Last I heard, Pony was on a date with Kara. He should get home around when you do. I've gotta be at work early tomorrow, so Happy Birthday if I don't see you.

Tell Pony to buy groceries.

-Darry

* * *

"Oh yeah, my birthday," Soda said, still thinking about the chocolate cake he came for. His eyes suddenly widened, "I'm going to be 21!" He laughed to himself, amused by the fact that 21 to him was nothing more than another number. _Shoot, if I was going to be drinking, I would've started a long time ago!_ He rummaged through the icebox for a few minutes, hunting for cake _No chocolate cake? I coulda sworn we still had some. I didn't think I ate the rest…_ and losing interest when none was found. He plodded off to the room he shared with Pony and rolled into bed, exhausted.

Sorry, another short chapter. It's a lot longer written out. Thanks for your reviews :)


	4. Happy Birthday, Greaser

**Happy Birthday, Greaser.**

Soda woke the next morning to find himself sprawled out on the floor, still fully clothed, with drool streaming from his lips to the carpet. Yawning, he sat up and pushed off the blanket that someone, most likely Pony, had thrown over him. Soda looked over at the bed. Pony was gone to school already, but he had definitely been in that night, by the way the covers looked. Suddenly Soda looked closer. Both pillows had head-shaped dents in them. He couldn't help but start laughing. _Looks like Pony had a late night visitor. Glory, ol' Two-Bit isn't gonna want to hear about that. No wonder Pony didn't try to make me get in bed._ Soda and Pony had been sharing a bed to try to ease Pony's frequent nightmares after their parents died in a car wreck. His nightmares were less common now, but they still shared the room out of habit.

Still laughing, Soda loped into the kitchen looking for breakfast. He wrinkled his nose when he remembered his hunt for chocolate cake the night before. An eggs-and-grape-jam sandwich would have to do.

Just as he was finishing his sandwich, the front door slammed and Two-Bit and steve came running in.

"Sodadpop Curtis!" Two-Bit yelled.

Steve dived for Soda's legs, knocking him down. "Happy birthday, Greaser!" he said playfully.

Soda sat up, laughing. "Glory, Steve, I'm getting too old for that." He was grinning like a kid that just got his first kiss. Steve punched him in the shoulder as a response.

"Hey Sodapop, me and Stevie here are gonna go to the Nightly Double later to hunt up some girls. You comin' man?"

Soda looked away, "Nah, man, I can't. I got work tonight." For once, he was grateful for work. He wasn't exactly in the mood for another dumb girl. The one he took out last night was the nicest he'd been with in a long time, and even then.. nothing.

Two-Bit nodded as if he understood. "Bum deal. Workin' on your birthday and all."

"I don't mind too bad," Soda shrugged. "Today is just like any other day.

Steve laughed. "Ain't that the truth, buddy."

The three over-grown boys sat down on the floor, leaning up against the couch, and watched some shows on the television. Periodically, they would wallop each other upside the head with pillows from the couch. When Pony got home from school, they headed out to the lot for a few games of football. Soda and Pony would have had a chance at winning a few times if Two-Bit and Steve hadn't continuously ganged up on Pony to hold him down and tickle him until he hollered "Uncle."

"Look at Mr. Super Track Star now!" Two-Bit whooped.

"Yeah, yeah. Lemme go. My legs are still worn out from practice today." Pony stuck his tongue out at Two-Bit and got tackled again.

Night fell quickly and Steve announced that he and Two-Bit were heading out to the Nighly Double. Pony said he was going to go pick up Kara, but Soda reminded him to pick up groceries first. Soda quickly scratched out a note to Darry to remind him that he would be at work that night. Pony was likely to forget to mention it to Darry.

It was getting near closing time at the DX, and business was finally slow. Dead slow. There hadn't been anyone by – not even to say hey – in the past hour, at least. Soda lay back on the hood of his car, looking up at the stars. _Glory, but this feels nice. I haven't done this since I was a little kid. I don't blame Pony for coming home late all those times. I want to stay like this forever…_ Soda's eyes were closed and he had almost drifted off to sleep when an all-too-familiar voice pierced his thoughts, causing his heart to skip a beat.

"Hiya, Sodapop."

[a/n] I went ahead and put up the next chapter since they're both so short. Ch. 5 is longer, but I'm probably going to do some editing to make it longer.. try to anyways.


	5. Throwing Feathers at the Wind

**Throwing Feathers at the Wind**  
  
Soda's eyes flew open and he held his breath, both hoping and fearing that it would be who he thought it was. Oh God, please. I can't let my heart get broken anymore, he thought. He took a deep breath and raised himself off the car. He found himself staring into those perfect china-blue eyes he had fallen in love with so long ago. "Sandy," he whispered softly, stepping forward. Sandy, beautiful, sweet, warm, perfect Sandy. Sandy, the love of his life. Sandy, who left because she was pregnant. Suddenly he was aware of the little boy standing next to Sandy, clutching her hand. Startled, he took a step backwards and fell onto the hood of the car. The boy started giggling. This boy with Sandy, that had to be her son. But how was that possible? Sandy said it was another boy's baby, not his. So how could this boy gripping Sandy's hand so tightly look like an identical, half-sized version of himself?  
  
As he stood there, staring at the little boy, the boy broke free from his captivity and ran towards Soda, yelling "Hey-what-have-you-been-doing-all-day!" in one rushed breath. Before he knew it, the kid was hugging him tightly around the waist. Wait a minute. The kid ain't tall enough to be around my waist, Soda thought. Soda looked down; the kid had wrapped his legs around Soda's knee. Dumbfounded, Soda looked back at Sandy. She was trying to hide her grin behind her hand, but was failing.  
  
"This is our son, Aaron."  
  
Soda's eyes widened. "Woah, woah, woah! What do you mean, 'ours'? You told me you were pregnant by someone else!"  
  
Sandy bit her lip nervously. She hated confrontation. She knew Soda wasn't angry, just scared; she hated that just as much. "I never got tested, Soda. I just guessed from when I thought it happened. It happened a lot sooner than I had thought. Even after Aaron was born, I wasn't sure. But when he started looking more and more like you every day, it sorta became obvious. Soda, I'm so sorry for cheating on you. I hated myself for it, and I let my parents move me to Florida. Oh, Soda, don't hate me for running away from you. Don't hate me, I'm still in love with you!" Sandy blurted out.  
  
Soda looked at her softly, with concern in his eyes. Aaron dropped from Soda and started dancing to the music blaring from the store radio. It was obviously his own dance. He stood with legs shoulder-width apart, half- crouched with his rear sticking out. He shook his bottom from side-to-side while punching the air with each fist, head tossing from shoulder to shoulder, shrieking from the pure joy he got from his dance. Sandy laughed and her face glowed as she watched Aaron. Slowly she turned back to Soda.  
  
"I took several pictures of you to Florida with me. I always wanted Aaron to think of you as his daddy, even if you really weren't. But you are. There is no way that someone could look that similar to you and not be related." She studied the ground for a moment before continuing. "My family doesn't even know I'm...we're...in Tulsa right now. I've been saving up for a long time to come back. The money you mailed me helped so much."  
  
_So she did receive that letter._ "Why didn't you write back?" Soda asked softly.  
  
Sandy's hair swished back and forth as she quietly shook her head. "I couldn't, Soda. I wasn't sure if I would even be able to save up enough for the plane tickets. I couldn't get your hopes up when I wasn't sure myself. It would have been too risky, anyways. They didn't want me writing to you, and I know they stole away letters you sent me, before I could read them."  
  
Soda's eyes teared up, remembered all the returned mail. "I thought you hated me."  
  
"Oh, honey, never," Sandy gently assured him, grasping his hand. "I had to wait for the right time to come. When I was pregnant, I had no money. When he was just born, he was too little for traveling. A little older than that and I would have had to carry him everywhere. Now is the soonest I could come." She paused for a moment, thinking. "I guess you could say it's like throwing feathers at the wind. They come right back to you again. So why not give it one more try?" Sandy looked hopefully towards Aaron, then back to Soda.  
  
Soda just grinned at her. It was his birthday, Sandy had come back to him, and he had a son! "C'mon, Sand-dollar, let's get home." He ran inside to let the other guy on his shift know that he was going home. "C'mon Aaron!" He whooped. He lifted the boy up to sit on his shoulders, noting how light Aaron was.  
  
At the Curtis house, Steve and Two-Bit were standing outside on the porch, smoking and laughing about their antics at the Nightly Double. Two-Bit saw three figures down the street emerge from the shadows. His mouth dropped open and his cigarette nearly fell out. "Sweet mother of Moses, look who's with Soda!" he shouted.  
  
By the time Soda, Sandy, and Aaron reached the house, four grown men were standing on the front porch, arms tightly folded across their chests. All were the same as she remembered. Steve stood there scowling at Sandy, no doubt thinking about when she left Soda. She could see tears forming in Two-Bit's eyes, not from sorrow or joy, but from the pain of biting his tongue to keep from grinning. Steve had probably threatened to hide all his booze, or something. For the first time, Sandy saw Darry and Pony looking exactly alike. Pony had grown to Soda's height with a slightly leaner build, toned from years of track. He and Darry stood next to each other, both heads cocked to the right. None of them moved an inch.  
  
Finally, Darry spoke up. "Welcome back, Sandy."  
  
Two-Bit couldn't hold himself back any longer. A giant grin spread across his face. Steve shot him a death glare, to which Two-Bit hissed in reply, "I can get more, anyways." Sandy giggled quietly - she had been right about the booze. Pony just quickly glanced at Darry. He looked to Sandy like a soldier awaiting orders. Aaron ran up and patted Pony's leg. "Hey-what-have-you-been-doing-all-day?" Pony grinned at him and nudged Darry in the ribs. "Hey, Darry, check out half-pint!"  
  
Darry just shook his head and looked at Sodapop. "I thought you said it wasn't yours," he demanded.  
  
"That's what she told me," replied Soda, moving his thumb towards Sandy.  
  
"Well, see, I had thought..." Sandy began.  
  
Darry started waving his hands. "No, no, no. Don't tell me now. It's too late; I am too tired for long stories, and I'm guessing this one would be a doozy." He led everyone inside and plopped down in the easy chair. He rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his eyes. "Ok, since you've got luggage with you, I'm assuming you just got here. Since you are _here_ with your luggage, I'm assuming your parents don't know you're here. Since you are here this late with your luggage, I'm assuming you don't plan to tell them tonight, if at all. Was I right on any of that?" Darry finished wearily. Sandy nodded, awestruck. She had forgotten how smart Darry was. "I think I can also guess what you're gonna ask, so ok, fine, whatever. Stay the night, and we'll figure everything out tomorrow."  
  
[a/n] Is the length better?


	6. How are you still ALIVE?

**How are you still alive?**

The next morning - afternoon, really - Darry treated Soda, Sandy, and Aaron to breakfast at the Metro Diner. As they left the house, they could still hear Two-Bit and Pony arguing in the living room.  
  
"Hey, I found the last bottle of beer you hid from me!" Two-Bit shouted.  
  
"What bottle? I wasn't hiding any beer from you!" Pony retorted.  
  
"Sure you were. You hid it in the shower and labeled it 'Brecks Shampoo,' remember?"  
  
"Uh..?"  
  
"And I'm not sure how you turned it all syrupy." Two-Bit looked menacingly toward Pony.  
  
"YOU DRANK MY SHAMPOO?!"  
  
"What? No! I drank MY beer. Moron. Man, my stomach hurts."  
  
"Shocking," Pony commented sarcastically.  
  
Darry shook his head. Two-Bit would never grow up.  
  
Metro Diner wasn't a real popular place to go, so they were sure to be left alone. The diner was decorated to look like it was in 1950. Darry liked the place because they played Elvis a lot. The four of them ordered quickly and as soon as they finished their meals, Darry spoke up.  
  
"Alright, Sandy, what's going on?"  
  
"Short or long?"  
  
"What? Oh. Short. Please," Darry added as an afterthought. Soda just stared. Darry saying please to someone? It was unheard of.  
  
Sandy took a deep breath. She handed a dime to Aaron and told him to pick a song on the jukebox and go dance. Aaron took off as fast as he could. Sandy had done this with him before, it was sort of a signal to Aaron that he couldn't listen in. "Ok. I had slept with Soda." Darry glared pointedly at Soda. Soda just grinned and shrugged his shoulders. He looked like a kid that got caught stealing candy.  
  
"...and then I cheated on him - I feel really terrible about that, Soda - after that, I just felt too guilty to sleep with Soda again, and when I found out I was pregnant, I just assumed it was from the last guy I was with...but... it obviously was Soda's. So I saved up all my money to come back." She turned to Soda,"I'm not trying to get you to take me back, I understand if you don't, honestly, I do, but I really want you to be a part of Aaron's life. He needs a father. I came to you because I knew you were my friend," Sandy pleaded.  
  
Darry interrupted. "Sandy, do your parents know you're here - at all?"  
  
Sandy shook her head, "No. I don't want them to either. They told me I had to get rid of Aaron or go live with my grandparents. They said they were ashamed to have me there, with their bastard grandson."  
  
Soda's face was on fire, he was furious. "You're living with us now, got it?"  
  
Sandy turned to Darry. "Is it okay?" she asked softly.  
  
He nodded. "It would help out a lot if you got a job, to help out with food and bills."  
  
"Oh, yeah, I would anyway."  
  
Soda laid a few bills on the table to pay for the food, and they all piled into the car

_(At the Curtis House)  
_  
Two-Bit suddenly looked out the window. "Hey, when did it turn daylight?"

Pony just laughed at him. "You do know it's like one o'clock right?"

Two-Bit stared back. "So that's why I'm so hungry."  
  
"You wanna go outside or something?"

"Are there naked girls outside?"

"Probably not."

"Then why the hell would I want to go outside?!"

Ponyboy just shook his head and dragged Two-Bit out the front door.  
  
_(5 minutes later)  
_  
"All this walking around is starting to make me tired," Two-bit complained. .

"All this walking around? We've walked maybe a hundred feet!"

"Yes, but so much has happened! The escaped gorilla, the dinosaur, the legless albino kid...!"

"Two-Bit, none of that happened."

"Hey, look! A doggie! Here, doggie, doggie!"

"What the! That's not a dog, Two-Bit, that's a stick!"

"Stick, dog, whatever. Maybe it's a dog playing stick."

"Yeah, man, it's just playing stick. Right." Pony rolled his eyes.

"He's damn good at it, too," Two-Bit said, nudging the stick with his shoe. "Even growing leaves and whatnot. That's the mark of a truly talented doggie."  
  
Pony started to walk off and Two-Bit ran to catch up. After a few minutes of silence, Two-Bit said, "I once fell asleep at the beach and then seagulls picked me up and carried me to a deserted island where I ate coconuts and met Gilligan and the whole gang. It was pretty crazy." He shoved his fists in his pockets.

Pony stared at him. "I think you're a coconut, Two-Bit..." he mumbled under his breath.

Two-Bit just laughed. "What was that, Ponyboy? You don't want to date my sister anymore? She'll be disappointed to hear the news!" Pony started swearing and tried to tackle the older boy. Two-Bit kept laughing. "Joke, man, it's a joke! Hey, let's go see Stevie, I heard he's working today."  
  
When they reached the DX, Steve was enjoying the chance to finally have all the girls swarming around him instead of Soda. Two-Bit eyes a few of them appreciatively, then pushed through to talk to Steve. "Hey, Steve-o."

"Hey, loser."

"Where's Davey?"

"Who's Davey?" Steve demanded.

"Who? Or what?" Two-bit asked, lifting one eyebrow.

"What?!"

"Precisely!" Two-Bit flashed a grin at one of the girls and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Here, Davey, Davey!"

Steve shook his head. "What is wrong with you?"

Pony stepped in. "He drank my shampoo this morning. Thought I hid his beer and labeled it Berks."

Steve stared at Two-Bit in disbelief. "How are you still ALIVE?"  
  
Suddenly, Soda came running up, still trying to button his work shirt. "Hey, Steve, sorry I'm running late. Oh, hey Pony, hey Two-Bit." Two-Bit waved.

"Nothing unusual, Sodypop. So what's the lame excuse this time?"

"Ah, Darry took me and Sandy and Aaron to eat at Metro, over by T.U."

Steve glowered at him.

"Sandy's gonna be living with us, I dunno until when."

Steve blew up. "Why the hell are you taking her back after what she did to you??"

"Relax, Steve. I said she's living with us. I didn't say I'm sleeping with her. And I want to be around Aaron, anyways. I like the kid. Even if he wasn't mine, I'd like him. He's a good kid, and I'd like to see him stay that way. I don't know what's gonna happen with Sandy and me, I haven't decided. Two-Bit! What the hell are you doing?"  
  
Two-Bit was standing by a stack of tires, pounding his fist in his hand. Soda walked over to him and watched him for a few minutes. "1...2...3..." Two-Bit mumbled and broke apart his fist into a scissors shape on "3." "I don't know what's sadder, Two-Bit, the fact that you're playing rock-paper-scissors with a stack of tires, or the fact that you seem to be losing," Soda commented dryly.

Two-Bit accusingly pointed a finger at the tires, "He's cheating!" Soda shook his head. "Pony, take him to a shrink. He needs professional help, and I am not licensed to give it to him. See y'all at home tonight."

"Alright, Soda," Pony answered. "C'mon, Two-Bit, let's go back to my house."

"But, the walking!" Two-Bit moaned.

_[a/n] Metro Diner is real but only since the 80s. Meh. T.U. is University of Tulsa. Anything that might remotely look like humor came from www. _


	7. Out of Food

**Out of Food**

_Later that night at the Curtis house  
_  
Steve and Soda walked in, just off work. Soda ran in and kicked off his shoes like always, then stopped suddenly.  
  
"Uh.. guys? What happened to the lights?"  
  
Two-Bit popped up from behind the couch. "I'unno. What happened?"  
  
"I mean, why are they off?" Soda explained.  
  
"The lights are off?"  
  
Soda covered his face with his hands. "Two-Bit, you're kidding right?"  
  
"Yes, yes I am! This has all been a big joke!"  
  
"Funny."  
  
"Isn't it though?"  
  
"No. No it's not."  
  
Soda walked into the kitchen and flipped on the lights. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Steve and Two-Bit arm wrestling. Two-Bit was trying to cheat by using his other hand to pull their fists over to his side, but Steve wasn't budging, other than squeezing Two-Bit's hand so tightly that Two-Bit was whining about not having the money to pay for a broken hand.  
  
"Shouldn't try to cheat then," Steve growled playfully.  
  
Soda sighed. It'd been a long day, all he could think about was Sandy and try to figure out something to do.  
  
The door slammed and Darry walked in. He looked over the mess in the living room and his eyes grew wide in horror when he looked at Two-Bit.  
  
"Two-Bit! Put your pants on!"  
  
Two-Bit jumped. He hadn't seen or heard Darry come in. He ran to get his pants, hopping as he tried to get them on while running back to the living room.  
  
Darry tossed his workbelt on the kitchen table. "Hey Two-Bit, heard some crazy rumor about you drinking up our shampoo. That right?"  
  
"No, man. I keep telling everyone, it was beer. Beer that Pony hid from me."  
  
Darry rolled his eyes. "Uh huh. And the Easter Bunny wears red tights."  
  
"Hey, you don't know that. Nobody knows that."  
  
"What?" Darry demanded. "And shouldn't we get your stomach pumped? That shampoo-"  
  
"Beer."  
  
"Whatever. That 'beer' couldn't have been good for you. We should really take you to get checked."  
  
"Naw, Darry. No need to relive bad memories." A year ago, Two-Bit accidentally drank some furniture polish. Darry made him go to the emergency room. Two-Bit was at St. John's for two days and complained the whole time that he only got ugly, brunette nurses. He swore they gave all the pretty blondes to the old guys that were gonna die.  
  
"Ok, well, whatever." Darry sat down in his chair and picked up the newspaper. "Anyone seen Pony?"  
  
"I just saw him in his room, doing homework I think," offered Steve. He didn't mind Pony too much, now that Pony went places on his own. He never really had a big problem with Pony, just hated that he was ALWAYS there when him and Soda went somewhere. It's hard to pick up girls when your best friends kid brother is there.  
  
About an hour later, they heard Two-Bit yelling in the kitchen. "Hey! You're out of food!"  
  
Darry yelled back, "Then go to the store and BUY SOME MORE!"  
  
"Too lazy for that," Two-Bit murmured. "I guess I'll just eat this burrito.."

"What burrito?"  
  
Pony came running in. "Hey Darry, have you seen my socks?" He stared at the object in Two-Bit's hands. "Are those my socks? Don't eat my socks!"  
  
Two-Bit threw them back in the fridge. "I didn't!"  
  
"Why were my socks in the icebox!"  
  
"Uhhh. . ." Two-Bit grinned at Pony and took off running through the house.  
  
Darry just laughed and shook his head. He still hadn't figured out if these stunts that Two-Bit had been pulling lately were accidents or if Two-Bit was just trying to get Pony to pay more attention to him than his sister. Pony definitely payed Kara plenty of attention.  
  
The screen door gently creaked closed and Sandy tiptoed in, Aaron asleep in her arms. Soda rushed over and offered to take him but Sandy shook her head. "There's a few bags of food in the car, can you get those?" She quietly carried Aaron to Darry's room - he had given it up so she and Aaron could have a room to themselves - and laid him on the bed.  
  
Soda brough the 4 bags of groceries in and set them on the kitchen counter. Pony started digging through the bags first. "Hey, there's stuff here for Spaghetti, Tacos.. Oh, man, chicken! and potatoes.. and corn.. Hey Sandy, I love you!" he called.  
  
Sandy walked in, scowling at Pony for being so loud. "Shhh!"  
  
Pony furrowed his eyebrows at Sandy. "Geez.. sorry. This isn't exactly a quiet house, if you don't remember."  
  
"Yeah, I hope Aaron's a deep sleeper," Soda added.  
  
Sandy shook her hands next to her face. "Well, whatever. I closed the bedroom door so maybe that'll make it a little quieter in there." She had grabbed one of Darry's long sleeved shirts and was tying it around her waist as an apron. Half an hour later she was setting the table with plates, taco shells, meat, lettuce, diced tomatoes, onions, and hot sauce. The boys dived in and cleared the table of food within 25 minutes

* * *

[a:n] took me a while, huh? sorry for the long wait. i've always got things running through my head and its just a matter of fitting them together with other ideas and picking what to use when. plus i finally finished reading the book i was in, and i haven't gotten too far into the next one, so my mind is (mostly) uncluttered. for a while at least. i'm writing this on a go, instead of writing it all by hand and typing it up later. hope ya like it. oh, and thanks to everyone who's reviewing.. i suck at doing personals, so, thanks :) 


	8. You got a WHAT?

**You got a what?**

Soda helped Sandy clear the table and do the dishes. Afterwards, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the front door. "I want to talk," he told her. He had been thinking all night and finally made up his mind what to do.  
  
Sandy followed him meekly to the front porch. She leaned back against the railing with her shoulders and put one foot up against the wall. "It's about us, huh," she asked softly.  
  
"Mhmm." Soda saw the rest of the boys crowded around a window, trying to hear the conversation. "Do you want to go down to the park? For old times?"  
  
She followed his stare and understood. "Yeah, lets."  
  
It was a 10 minute walk to the park, and the entire trip was in silence. Uncomfortably quiet. When they arrived, they sat on the merry-go-round and Sandy gently rocked it from side to side, pushing her feet against the dirt ring around the merry-go-round.  
  
"So, how did it go today? Any luck job-hunting?"  
  
She nodded, a little too enthusiastically. "Yeah, I've got an interview at Central library tomorrow. They said they'd consider me for the circulation desk." She laughed bitterly. "I can be a circ-jerk like my mom. When we left, I let Aaron play in the fountain in front of the library for a while. I don't think he's ever seen a fountain before, he loved it!"  
  
Soda nodded nervously. He hated what he was going to do, but he knew it was needed. "Sandy.." _How am I supposed to say this?_ "Sandy, I can't take you back."  
  
Sandy inhaled sharply. She knew this was coming, but she didn't expect it to hurt so bad. She shrugged it off non-chalantly. "It's okay, I get it. Another girl, right?"  
  
"No, no other girls," Soda shook his head.  
  
"Girlssss, huh? Plural?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him playfully.  
  
Soda grinned. "Nope, not even one. Just.. See, it's been so long.. We don't really know each other anymore. If we tried to just pick up where we left off, we'd just be living off old memories and lying to ourselves about things changing. Right now all we've got is memories and a son. And I don't even know him yet, so he doesn't really connect us that much right now." He took a breath and tried to clear his thoughts. "I'm not saying it'll - we'll - never happen again.. Just right now. I want to be here for Aaron, but that's all I am for you now." He was vaguely aware that not everything he said made sense. All he knew was that he felt horrible for saying it.  
  
Sandy nodded coolly, trying her best to not break down and start bawling. She didn't need him to think she was begging. "Ok, yeah, I understand. You're just here to be daddy, right?"  
  
Soda nodded.  
  
"Well, what about friends? Can we at least be that?"  
  
"Yeah, we can be friends." Soda threw his arm across Sandy's shoulders and they headed back to the house.  
  
As they passed under a street light, Soda looked sharply over at Sandy. He stopped suddenly and turned her by her shoulders to face him.  
  
"Sandy, you look awfully thin. You didn't used to look that thin. Are you ok?"  
  
She rolled her shoulders away from his grip. "Yeah, I'm ok. Stuff like that happens when you've got two mouths to feed and only enough money for one." She turned away and started walking again.  
  
Soda stood there for a moment longer, watching Sandy through narrowed eyes. She had gone to live with her grandparents... but would they really make her pay for all of her and Aaron's food? He tried to clear the thought from his mind and ran to catch up with Sandy.  
  
A few months went by and summer was nearing. Memorial day was a few weeks past; Sandy and Soda had taken Aaron to see the parade downtown. He kept trying to run out to the floats to make friends. Kid was the friendliest thing Soda had ever seen. On one particular night, Aaron was telling the gang about something that he did at the parade.  
  
"And one time........ one time........ this one time...." he paused for several seconds, staring into space. It was past his bedtime and he was trying desperately to stay awake. He snapped back to present time and started again, "This one time....." He looked up at Steve, a puzzled look on his face. "What was I s'tinkin' about?" The boys all cracked up. Aaron had a slight lisp that made him change anything with a "th" sound to a "st" or "sht" sound. He was fascinated with saying double and "shtriple".  
  
"Yeah, you stink alright," Darry laughed.  
  
Aaron turned on him angrily. "That's not what I said!" he yelled. "I said STINK!" The boys just laughed harder.  
  
Sandy swept Aaron up. "OK, kiddo, it's definitely time for bed now." She carried him to the bedroom to change clothes, then led him to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he finished she tucked him into bed and left the room. The gang was trying their hardest to stay moderately quiet for a while, at least until Aaron could fall asleep. Soda, Pony, and Steve were playing Poker in the living room and Darry was reading the news. Who knew where Two-Bit was. No one had seen him much for a few weeks. Sandy turned on the TV and flopped onto the couch. She watched for a few minutes. Suddenly she froze. She could sense something, but she wasn't sure what. She stood up slowly and looked over the couch and there was.......Aaron. Sandy exhaled and relaxed. "Boy, what are you doing up?"  
  
"I need some.. other.. um.. you know," Aaron faltered. He was so tired he forgot his excuse for getting out of bed. "Pants?" he finished.  
  
Sandy rolled her eyes. "Your pants are fine. Back in bed."  
  
Aaron scowled and got back in bed.  
  
Five minutes later, Sandy sensed him in the room again. This time she crept around to the side of the couch. Aaron was lying on his stomach, crawling army-style towards the other end of the couch. Sandy ran up behind him and picked him up. "Ok, mister. Enough of that. Get up again and you're in real trouble, and I mean it."  
  
Aaron sighed. "But I don' wanna go to bed!" he whined.  
  
Sandy pointed to the bedroom. "Git."  
  
"Okay," he huffed, stalking off to the room.

Right at midnight, Two-Bit sauntered in. "Howdy!"  
  
Pony jumped up. "Hey, Two-Bit, where ya been?"  
  
"Bell's," Two-Bit winked.  
  
"What were you doing there?"  
  
"Yeah, like you need to ask," Steve laughed. It was common knowledge that Two-Bit loved to try to pick up girls at Bell's. It was the only amusement park in town, and during the summer it was packed with girls, Greaser and Soc, and now Flower children.  
  
Pony grinned. "How many numbers didja get, Two-Bit?"  
  
Two-Bit stared at Pony in mock disdain. "I'm not sharing! Oh, but check out this." He pulled a long rectangular paper from his back pocket and unfolded it.  
  
Steve jumped up and snatched it out of Two-Bit's hands. "What's this Two-Bit? A PAYCHECK? What poor fool did you swipe this from, and how did you manage to talk them into putting your name on it instead?!"  
  
Two-Bit reached to grab it back, and Steve took off outside, whooping. Two-Bit rolled his eyes at Steve's retreating figure. "Actually, THIS is what I swiped." He pulled a small stuffed elephant out of his leather jacket - he wore it year round, said it helped for stealing - and tossed it to Sandy. "For the kid," he offered.  
  
Steve came back in and went back to the poker game he was in with Soda. The escape with Two-Bit's paycheck bored him when he realized Two-Bit wasn't chasing him down.  
  
Darry stared at Two-Bit like he was a ghost. "You got a WHAT? You? The Two-Bit we know and love? What godsend got you to do that?"  
  
Two-Bit's face flushed. Sandy had never seen him look nervous, and they had known each other longer than anyone else. "Well, see, The other day this girl came up to me and asked if she used to go to school with me and kinda laughed and she said wasn't I the guy her friends always called a waste of time? And you know, stuff's been tough for my mom lately, and with Kara growing up.. I want her to get to go to school, she's come this far and I dont want her to waste the rest of her life following in Mom's footsteps at the diner. It's not a bad place to work or anything, but, you know, Mom's so tired and I ain't ever given her a break. The only good thing I've done for her is not be around to make more of a mess for her to clean. So, I'm not gonna be a waste of time anymore. I'm helping out at home more now, and with me working, Mom can take less shifts at the diner and have time to rest. She's gettin' old, and she's just worked there her whole life, and I've got my whole life ahead of me. She needs this more than I do." The gang stared. They hadn't heard so much from Two-Bit without a joke thrown in here and there.  
  
"You're really serious, huh, Two-Bit?" Darry asked softly.  
  
Two-Bit nodded. "Hell, yeah." He broke into a grin, "It's a decent job, anyway. I get to ride as many rides as I want on my breaks, and there's plenty of hot chicks working there." He shook his head. "I wasted all my time going after the girls that pay to get in, and I should have been going after the ones that ARE PAID to get in!"  
  
Pony grinned. Maybe they could get Two-Bit to sneak them in sometime... "You missed dinner. Sandy made tacos."  
  
Two-Bit looked hurt. "You didn't save any for me?"  
  
Darry patted his stomach. "Not unless you want me to feed you like a mama-bird."  
  
Two-Bit's face contorted at the thought. "No, thanks, man." He walked over to the kitchen table and watched Soda and Steve play for a bit. "Hey, Sodapop, buddy, I would really recommend folding now. Steve's got ya beat!"  
  
Soda and Steve both jumped up and tackled Two-Bit


	9. Locked

**Locked **

_A few days later..._  
  
"Ahh. Well, this is an interesting sensation.. Almost like.. swimming in Jell-O." Two-Bit rolled off the Curtis' couch and landed on the floor with a thud. Dust rose into the air around him, but Pony wasn't sure if it was from his clothes or the carpet. Slowly Two-Bit opened his eyes. "Solid ground. Well, that's nice too, I guess. I'm still in one piece.. not missing any limbs.. I dont FEEL dead..?" He turned to the left, staring right into a pair of giant brown eyes and tiny turned-up nose. The eyes and nose giggled at Two-Bit.  
  
"THE WHAT! What is THAT!"  
  
Pony ran over and picked up Aaron around his waist and held him upside-down. "'THAT' is Aaron. Remember?"  
  
Two-Bit sat up and scratched his head, grinning. "Oh yeah, hey kid, how's it goin'?"  
  
"Marshmallows don't have bones."  
  
Two-Bit eyed him cautiously. "Yeah, kid, know what? You're right. No bones in them marshmallows at all."  
  
"So, were you dreaming when you fell off the couch?" Pony asked, setting Aaron back on the ground.  
  
"Naw, just drunk off my.." Two-Bit stopped when he remembered Aaron was still there.  
  
Pony cocked an eyebrow. "Well, now, if that ain't a surprise, I sure don't know what would be!"  
  
"I do!" Aaron piped up.  
  
"Yeah? What's that, buddy?"  
  
Aaron just grinned and pulled an object out of his back pocket and dangled it in front of Two-Bit's face. The infamous black switch Two-Bit had stolen years ago.  
  
Two-Bit stared in shock while Pony fell backwards onto the easy chair, laughing so hard tears were coming.  
  
"Glory, Two-Bit, barely four years old and he's as klepto as you are! I dunno how he swiped that but I'd give him money to see him do it again."  
  
"Gimme that." Two-Bit grabbed the blade out of Aaron's hands and stuffed it back in his pocket. "It's easy to take stuff from people passed out drunk on the couch. Didn't take no skill for him to swipe it."  
  
Aaron started dancing around the room. Pony watched him, vaguely remembering a time when Soda danced the same way around the house. "I s'took it last week, when you were watching Popeye," Aaron crowed.  
  
Two-Bit just stared at him dumbfounded. "Glory be.. I must be losing my touch." He turned to Pony, "So where's Sodapop and Superman?"  
  
"Soda and Sandy went on a date - a football game at T.U. or something."  
  
"Date, eh? I was wondering when that was gonna come around. They look like a couple of baboons in heat, the way they've been eyeing each other the past couple of weeks."  
  
"More like, ever since Soda got used to her being back. 'Just friends' my... ah... Anyway, Steve and Darry are both working, Darry just left here an hour ago. Speaking of work, shouldn't you be..."  
  
Two-Bit started laughing hysterically, shaking his head. "Kid, I surprised myself for staying as long as I did. Tim Shepard came by a few times to harrass me and remind me about how work cuts into my drinking time. He's right, you know," he added thoughtfully. Drinking was one of the few things he really considered thoughtfully. "Anyway, those chicks weren't my type. Their schedules were full long before I came around. They were all the same, too. 'Come onnnn, Keith' - can you believe it? They actually made me go by my name at work - 'Come onnn, Keith, we're supposed to be RUNNING the games, not PLAYING the games," he mimicked, rolling his eyes. "Every day, they were like that. 'Nooo, Keith, we're not supposed to have fun at work, we're supposed to WORK at work.' Man, they don't pay enough for me to work at work."  
  
Pony grinned. "What would be paying you enough? 2 beers for every hour you're there?"  
  
"Nup. I require a full six-pack. Oh yeah, that reminds me.." He pulled a green stuffed elephant out of his leather jacket and tossed it to Aaron. "For you, buddy. Meant to give you that last night. Y'all take care, I'm heading out." He walked down the porch steps and disappeared into the dark.  
  
Pony looked down at Aaron, who was growling at the stuffed elephant. "You gonna name him?" Pony asked, gesturing towards the green lump.  
  
"Yep, he's Mickey," Aaron answered, eyes shining.  
  
Pony gave a small laugh. "Well, kiddo, Two-Bit will be glad to hear that. You wanna catch a movie? I think An American Tail is on up at the movie house tonight." Aaron nodded enthusiastically, and Pony scribbled out a note to whoever happened to get there first.  
  
_After the Movie_

Aaron skipped a few feet in front of Pony, chanting "Feish, feish, feish."  
  
"It's Feivel," Pony corrected him.  
  
Aaron rested his fists on his hips and and defiantly announced, "If I say it's Feish, it's Feish!"  
  
Pony shook his head. "Whatever, little buddy."  
  
They soon reached the house and Pony tried the doorknob. Locked. "Locked?!" He patted his pockets in search of keys, although he knew it would be useless. Why would he have a key on him? The door was never locked. Pony rested his ear against the door and he could faintly hear music from the radio. Dance music, he realized. Pony and Aaron started pounding on the door and yelling for Soda.  
  
The music went silent and Soda came to unlock the door. He glowered at Pony and turned back towards the living room. Sandy was standing nervously in the middle of the room, hands clasped behind her back. Pony glanced from Sandy to Soda.  
  
"I hafta go pee!" Aaron announced, running off to the bathroom.  
  
"So, Soda, why was the door locked?" Pony asked.  
  
"Kinda hard for a guy to slow-dance with his girl with everyone barging in." Soda muttered.  
  
Pony and Sandy both stared at Soda, mouths gaping.  
  
"She's your girl again?"  
  
"I'm your girl again?"  
  
"Yeah," Soda answered softly. "If you still want to.."  
  
Sandy threw her arms around Soda's neck and mumbled her answer, "Mrmph."  
  
Soda wrapped his arms around Sandy's waist and gave Pony a look.  
  
"Hey, kid brother, don't you have some homework to finish?"  
  
"Naw, and tomorrow is Sunday anyway."  
  
"Read a book."  
  
"I've read 'em all."  
  
"Read 'em again," Soda growled.  
  
Pony threw up his hands, "OK, ok, I get the picture. Let Soda & Sandy have their kissy time." He ran out as Soda threw a pillow at his head. As soon as his bedroom door latched, he could hear the music start up again and between songs he could hear Soda and Sandy laughing about some private joke. Pony was nearly asleep on his bed when he heard Darry's truck pull up in the driveway. Suddenly there was a pounding noise at the front door and Pony could hear Darry bellowing, "SODA! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR PRONTO!"

* * *

aaaaaaand fade to black.


End file.
